Million pounds. 100,000 pounds. 100,000 ten pound notes. 100 100 1 pence piece. This is an amount that has historically been valued as life-changing.
This is exactly what the PDC World Darts Championship winner will be leaving on January 3rd.
Growing up, the idea of £1 million was difficult to understand. That means winning the lottery, or the top 0.00001%, an amount that will change your existence forever.
Dennis Priestley, the first PDC World winner in 1994, walked away with £16,000. In today’s terms, this would be equivalent to approximately £32,125.
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Wayne Mardle and Mark Webster react to the World Darts Championship draw.
£32,125 is now similar to what we lost in round three. Will you advance to round 4? This is double the total prize money from 32 years ago and accounts for almost the entire prize money.
Turn it over. If Priestley had won £1 million in 1994, the 2026 winner would have pocketed around £2,155,502.75.
This is the clearest symbol of how Darts has grown exponentially.
So what does someone spend £1 million on? In 1994, Dennis Priestley’s £16,000 was a third of the way he could buy a house outright at the average property price of £51,362.
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Michael van Gerwen came agonizingly close to a 9-darter in the Paddy Power Perfect Challenge.
The average house price in the UK is currently around £272,000, so if the winner wants to buy a property, they’ll get it!
Even amid inflation, £1 million is still a symbol of luxury, still life-changing and darts still not what they used to be.
And if you think about it, this is just the beginning. The meteoric rise is in its early stages. Many are predicting a change around the arrival of the one and only Luke Littler in 2023. This accelerated an already fast-moving machine to where we are today. The world prize money is £5 million.
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Take a look at some of the best fancy dress outfits seen at the World Darts Championship over the years.
So, among the 128 players vying to become the first “million pound” winner, there are many for whom that amount will mark a landmark moment in their lives.
Imagine the fairy tale some people are imagining. From the preliminaries to the million pound man. From the women’s circuit to the summit. From plumber to millionaire.
For some, it will be a dream come true.
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Speaking to Sky Sports, Stephen Bunting has his sights set on becoming world champion and is confident in his abilities ahead of the World Championships.
This also makes a big difference in your rankings. Whoever wins the world will receive a significant amount of money that will boost their ranking or move them further up the PDC Order of Merit.
So even if, like Littler, they say money doesn’t motivate them, he extends his lead as world number one because not only is he at the top of the darts world, he wants to stay there for as long as possible.
It makes the dream bolder, more invigorating and, if possible, makes the World Darts Championships much more practically important.
Of course, we know who the favorites are and who is most likely to win the big check. But with such a huge amount of money at stake, there will be a remaining 100 or so players who will do their best to produce the best player possible and pave the way to winning the prestigious Sid Waddell Trophy and life-changing money.
The National Darts Lottery begins on December 11th. 128 players purchased tickets. While some went with trusted numbers, others had better luck. It doesn’t take long to find out who has the winning numbers.
Who will win the Paddy Power World Darts Championship? Watch every match live exclusively on Sky Sports’ dedicated darts channel from December 11 to January 3 (Sky Channel 407 from December 10). Stream darts and other top sports with NOW.
